He, along with friends and supporters of the Wellesley-Weston Chabad, have embarked on a fund-raising drive to raise $250,000, to be available as a down payment should they find a suitable new location in Wellesley.

A fund-raising letter encouraging tax-deductible donations that the friends and supporters of the Wellesley-Weston Chabad recently sent out states that they have determined that $250,000 will be "necessary for the down payment of a suitable facility in terms of size, zoning and location in order for the Bleichs to convert their monthly rent into a mortgage at the current favorable rates to pay off the property."

The Wellesley-Weston Chabad Center is located in the home Bleich shares with his wife, Geni, and children, Mendy, 4, and Effi, 2. Rabbis always live in or close to the Chabad (place of worship), said Wellesley resident Aliana Brodmann E. Von Richthofen, who is co-chairwoman of the building fund along with Stephen Brown of Chestnut Hill.

Brown said, "Right now, the rabbi and his family invite people over for Shabbos meals and prayers. Because of their wonderful hospitality, their warmth, those numbers have grown." He said that four years ago, they were lucky to get five people at a Shabbos meal. Now they get upwards of 30 to 50 people at the center.

Brodmann Von Richthofen refers to the Bleichs as "a young family inviting more people to their table than they can possibly handle." High holiday events that draw even larger numbers have to be held at either the Wellesley Community Center or the Wellesley Inn. They're kicking into action now, said Brown, a sports writer, so when an appropriate site becomes available, they'll be ready to act.

A new location might be able to accommodate 70 to 85 guests, Brown said. For really big events, they would probably still have to rent space. Looking far into the future, they can envision having a property as big as Temple Beth Elohim, the rabbi said. He refers to the Chabad's present location as stage one; the location they're currently fund-raising for as stage two; and a temple or synagogue many years out as stage three.

"If I was up to stage three, I'd be knocking on the door of the church on Route 9," he said, referring to St. James the Great, a Catholic church that's slated to close in the fall.

Among the many people who have found hospitality at the family table are college students. "For them, it's a home away from home," Bleich said, "where they can get a Shabbos meal that's home cooked." For this reason, he would like the new Chabad to be within walking distance of Babson and Wellesley colleges.

Bleich said that 99 percent of the students involved with the Chabad (approximately 75 of them) are not from observant backgrounds; do not have a Shabbos dinner on Friday nights at home; and don't go to synagogue. Somehow they have found their way to the table, and their parents are appreciative. Bleich said he's received beautiful letters from them, as well as contributions.

According to Bleich, Chabad is the world's largest Jewish organization. There are 3,000 Chabad Centers in the world, in 74 countries. In Massachusetts, there are 42.

"I'm here to teach people traditional Judaism," Bleich said about his coming to Wellesley four years ago. Although he and his wife are from traditional, observant backgrounds, he said "the way we view Judaism is that we don't use the labels of Reformed Judaism, Conservative Judaism or Orthodox Judaism. As far as we're concerned, a Jew is a Jew. And every single Jew stood together at Mount Sinai when we received the Torah 3,337 years ago. And that's enough to make someone Jewish, regardless of their affiliation or the label that someone would use.

"This isn't an Orthodox synagogue. We're trying to build a community of Jewish people. There's no judging when someone comes here ...."

In fact, Brown said, "We learn from Jews and non-Jews here." Everyone is welcome. Although Brodmann Von Richthofen belongs to Temple Israel in Boston, she enjoys the personal touch at Chabad. "We feel like we are personally welcome and wanted and cared about." She went on to say that Chabad isn't a new thing and that "it's not anything you have to practice. People come and go ... It's a very wholesome family environment that happens to practice Jewish values."

People who attend the Chabad Center are called "guests," not members. There is no membership. They don't pay dues, and even if they belong somewhere else, they are welcome, even non-Jews. In fact, Brodmann Von Richthofen's husband, Alex, who isn't Jewish, was the one who introduced his wife to the rabbi. Alex enjoys the conversations having to do with Jewish customs and traditions at Shabbos dinners. "It really satisfies his curiosity," his wife said.

The rabbi said, "They're looking for Jewish people who have wandered away," but that everyone is welcome.

"Their home contains the Jewish values, but they don't impose their values on anyone else ... It's a wonderful family that exudes values that we all cherish. It's a reach for some us," said Brodmann Von Richthofen.

Brown, who grew up in a Conservative household, said, "I somewhat drifted away from being a practicing Jew. My involvement began with my friendship with the rabbi, who first and foremost I consider to be one of my best friends. He's young (27); he's hip."

The rabbi, originally from Brooklyn, is a big Red Sox fan. Inside his yamaka he has the autographs of Sox players Gabe Kapler and Kevin Youkalis, and that of Shawn Greene of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Calling him the "unofficial rabbi to the Jewish players on the Red Sox," Brown talked about the single most impressive thing he admired about the rabbi that stuck out above all else. The rabbi wanted to meet Gabe Kapler. One day, Brown made the introduction. He and the rabbi went out to Yawkey Way between batting practice and the start of the game, and since it was evening prayer time, there on Yawkey Way, the rabbi took out his Palm Pilot that has the Torah on it and began to pray. "It kind of made me feel maybe I should be doing this, too," Brown said.

Brown, who brings his children to the Bleich home, said, "We're really a family."

He said the rabbi is not only focused on the Chabad's needs, but he's very community-oriented as well. He mentioned the initiative the rabbi took last week to arrange a softball game between Chabad and the Wellesley Police Department on Aug. 15, which will be part of a statewide fund-raiser for Easter Seals. "I think that the [Bleich] family has really endeared themselves to Wellesleyans," he said.

The rabbi has left his mark on many other towns. He went away at 15 to rabbinical college in London. At 17, he continued his studies in Jerusalem. At 18, he went to the Ukraine to study further - to become a kosher butcher. After two months in the Ukraine, his brother, the head rabbi there, asked him if he wanted to move to a coastal city to become a rabbi. He accepted the offer and stayed for a year, and then went to study for another year in New York. He later became an assistant rabbi in Palm Springs, Calif., and then became a rabbinical intern at Syracuse University. He got married at 21, in 1998, to Geni, then 19, and spent another year studying in New York, before coming to Wellesley.

Of Chabad, he said, "We want to fulfill God's will out of happiness."

Brodmann Von Richthofen said, "People come here who have spiritual or very practical needs, and nobody goes home empty-handed or empty-hearted."